By CASEY MCNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, April 26, 2009

The woman police say shot a man Saturday after an altercation on a Metro bus was released from jail Monday afternoon, but she could still be charged in the case.

King County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Dan Donohoe said prosecutors need more than 72 hours to make a decision on filing charges.

In most cases, a suspect must be released within three days of being jailed if charges are not filed.

About 12:15 p.m. Saturday, the 31-year-old woman was riding on Metro bus route No. 25 and got into a verbal altercation with a 25-year-old man who she said was harassing her.

The woman got off the bus at Third Avenue and Seneca Street and the man followed her after the altercation continued. The woman told police the man swore at her.

The man lunged at her, she told officers. The woman said she was armed and aimed a gun at his head. She told police he lunged again and the woman shot him once in the upper right chest.

The woman said the man spit on her, but could not recall if that was before or after she shot him, according to officers.

A nearby FBI agent heard the shot and saw the 25-year-old man stagger into the middle of the intersection. The agent took custody of the woman until police arrived.

The woman admitted to shooting the man and police found the gun on the ground at the intersection, according to court documents. She was arrested and booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault.

The woman was released at 4:38 p.m., according to jail records. Seattlepi.com does not typically name suspects until they're charged.

Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said Monday there were several witnesses to the incident. Officers said the woman had a concealed weapons permit.

Jamieson said she was arrested because of the circumstances of the incident, though it would be up to the prosecutors to determine if she should be charged with assault or charged with a lesser crime.

In a court document, Seattle police objected to her release because she fired the gun on a street busy with bus traffic and pedestrians. The woman has two prior convictions in Utah from the mid-1990s, Donohoe said.

When police object to a suspect's release, they must explain how the safety of the individual or public would be threatened.

The woman, a community college student who is raising her four children in Seattle, was ordered held on $200,000 bail at a Monday afternoon court hearing. But Donohoe said the prosecutor's office would advise the jail to release her Monday afternoon.